Bykhaw Offensive

The Bykhaw Offensive (20-30 June 1944) was an offensive operation carried out by the Soviet Red Army to liberate the town of Bykhaw (Bychau, Belarus) from the German Wehrmacht during Operation Bagration, the offensive to liberate Belarus from the Axis Powers. 270,000 Soviet troops took part in the offensive, and the Germans declared Bykhaw to be a feste plaetze, meaning that the town was to be held against the Red Army at all costs. The Soviets were held back for ten days before they succeeded in taking the town from the Germans, and the Germans were forced to fall back further west.